Lately, the hustle and bustle of the back-to-school season has been prompting me to look back on my own education. In particular, one hard lesson I learned in the eighth grade would stick with me for the rest of my life. For the entirety of junior high, my school philosophy was best summed up as “oh, it’ll work itself out.” I went months and months without putting pencil to paper, pretending my homework didn’t exist. To say that I was not applying myself would be a massive understatement. At the time, my parents were busy desperately trying to keep the restaurant they ran afloat, and they didn’t have a lot of time to help me with my schoolwork, much less keep me on the ball. As a natural result of my total disregard for school, my grades plummeted. Late in the year, one Thursday after class, my teachers sat me down and told me I was at a 66.6 percent in both math and history. That didn’t mean much to me until they informed me that if I couldn’t bring both grades up to at least a C-minus with the final on Monday, I’d be staying behind in junior high. All my chipper friends with passing grades, who didn’t need to take the final at all, would be graduating and heading on to high school without me. The news got worse. The only way I could pass was if I clinched a 100 percent grade on both finals. A nearly impossible feat — especially for a kid who had decidedly not been paying attention all year. I went back home, despondent. “Sorry, kiddo,” my mom and dad said. “Looks like eighth grade it is next year.” But that was a fact I simply couldn’t accept. I went over to my grandma’s house, right across the street. With my parents so busy, we’d become close. There was a reason people called her “The General.” She was strict and exacting, and she believed in always doing the right thing and owning up to your mistakes, How The General Helped Me Defeat 8th Grade CONQUERING THE IMPOSSIBLE

regardless of the circumstances. I gave her the lowdown on my latest crisis.

“Well?” she asked. “Where are your books?”

For the next four days, I did nothing but study. I’d read a chapter of my textbook, review with my grandma, and read the chapter again, over and over until I’d mastered the material. By the time Monday rolled around, I was almost completely wiped out. I never wanted to study again. As I went through the tests, I felt like I did an okay job. I waited around afterward for my teachers to grade them. When they finished, they had this bewildered look on their faces. “What’s wrong?” I asked. When it turned out that I’d pulled it off — 100 percent on both tests — I just about passed out. That was the first inkling I had of my potential, the first time I felt like, hey, if I could learn a year’s worth of math and history in four days, then I could do anything! From then on, I applied myself fully to my studies, never shying away from a new challenge. When it came time to go into the armed forces, I had no doubt that I could be a model Marine. It’s incredible how one little thing can change your whole self- perception and transform the way you approach the world. I’m not sure where I’d be now had my wonderful grandma not helped me cram a mountain of information into my head that weekend. I’m guessing I wouldn’t be running my own business, though, and the fact that I am is something for which I’m endlessly grateful. - Chuck Henrichsen 866-374-0243